Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Wednesday, March 20 - CBS has simultaneously announced that crime procedural CSI has been renewed for a fourteenth season to air during the 2013-14 season and that series leading man Ted Danson has signed another two-year contract extension.

NBC has acquired the U.S. television rights to the one-hour action-crime series Crossing Lines from producers Tandem Communications and Bernero Productions. The network will air 10 episodes beginning in summer 2013. Set in exotic locations, Crossing Lines taps into the charter of the International Criminal Court to investigate serialized cross-border crimes and to hunt down global criminals. The series stars William Fichtner, Donald Sutherland, Marc Lavoine, Gabriella Pession, Tom Wlaschiha, Moon Dailly and Richard Flood. The series was created and developed by Edward Allen Bernero and Rola Bauer.

Manu Bennett has been promoted to series regular for the previously renewed second season of The CW's Arrow. He plays Slade Wilson, an ally to Oliver (Stephen Amell) during his time on the island who has so far only appeared in flashbacks. He joins current recurring players Emily Bett Rickards and Colton Haynes as additions to the main cast for season two.

Bianca Kajlich (Rules of Engagement) and Aly Michalka (Hellcats) have joined the cast of the NBC comedy pilot Undateable from Adam Sztykiel and Bill Lawrence. Kajlich will play Leslie, Danny's (Chris D'Elia) older sister and a divorced single mom who works as a wine rep to get free booze and meet guys. Michalka will play Maddie, an attractive waitress in Justin's (Brent Morin) bar who is endlessly attracted to jerks and bad pickup lines but has a sweet spot for Justin.

Robert Buckley (666 Park Avenue) has exited the cast of the NBC comedy pilot Holding Patterns from Justin Spitzer and starring Humphrey Ker and Chyler Leigh. He was to play Chad, the arrogant and misogynistic friend of Griffin (Ker) and Leah's (Leigh).

TV Land has renewed its hit comedy series Hot in Cleveland starring Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick for a fifth season with a supersized episode order of 24 episodes - bringing the series total to 104 episodes. New episodes of the sitcom return on June 19.

Darri Ingolfsson (Last Resort) will appear in multiple episodes of the upcoming eighth season of Showtime's Dexter. He will play an antique dealer of old medieval equipment who starts dating Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) neighbor.

J.J. Feild has been cast on the AMC drama pilot Turn from Craig Silverstein. He will play Major John Andre, head of British counterintelligence in the Revolutionary War. Andre's brand of spy craft involves turning assets through seduction, bribery and manipulation.

Rory Scovel has been added to the cast of the TBS comedy pilot Ground Floor from Greg Malins and Bill Lawrence. He will play Harvard, who got his nickname because he attended community college, the only one of his associates to pursue education past high school. He's a classic know-it-all who harbors a secret crush on his ground-floor co-worker Jennifer (Briga Heelan).